Submitted by Livia Mello (liviacmello@yahoo.com.br) on 2016-09-28T14:16:07Z No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseRVR.pdf: 17301603 bytes, checksum: ca1c2799fb4bf31f2af4bdd75cd2a815 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ronildo Prado (ronisp@ufscar.br) on 2016-09-30T19:52:52Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseRVR.pdf: 17301603 bytes, checksum: ca1c2799fb4bf31f2af4bdd75cd2a815 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ronildo Prado (ronisp@ufscar.br) on 2016-09-30T19:53:02Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseRVR.pdf: 17301603 bytes, checksum: ca1c2799fb4bf31f2af4bdd75cd2a815 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-30T19:59:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseRVR.pdf: 17301603 bytes, checksum: ca1c2799fb4bf31f2af4bdd75cd2a815 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-11-25 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / Training aims to improve the professional competences (knowledge, skills and attitudes) and it is essential particularly in risk activities to the life, property and environment. Due to the risk and cost of traditional practical training, serious games, which reproduce systems, processes and real-world objects in a safe virtual environment has been used as an effective tool for learning and training or motivation to learning, and support for assessment during and post-action. On the other hand, the development of serious games is a complex process, has development high cost (time, money, resources), need highly qualified professionals, who hold requirements of learning, assessment, simulation and game itself. Different methodologies have emerged for developing serious games, however, in general, they do not include the different dimensions and need to be combined and balanced with other methodologies to achieve the training and assessment objectives. This thesis presents a novel iterative methodology (named DevJSTA) for the development of serious games for training and human performance assessment (named JSTA), which integrates multidisciplinary teams by providing guidelines, artifacts, game elements and simulation models (formalisms of discrete events, automata and Fuzzy logic) to integrate and include concepts such as effective and experiential learning in serious games, besides providing feedback during the simulation and at the end. This methodology DevJSTA describes the professional roles, the development life cycle, the generated products and the technologies and tools that can be used to create these products, as well as a support architecture and generic components. The main differential of this methodology is its holistic approach that integrates pedagogical principles of learning and assessment in the development of simulation. The methodology was evaluated through interviews with software engineering experts, serious games developers and domain experts. The results were positive and confirmed the need of these new methodology that is integrative. To validate the methodology, one JSTA was created to train firefighters to control the cooking gas leak, and to evaluate the trainee’s perception and performance. Serious game fidelity and effectiveness were also validated. Moreover, the serious game development, with the use of the methodology DevJSTA, allowed to evaluate an opportunity for improvement in the current protocol that is used in the Fire Department. / Um treinamento visa aprimorar as competências dos profissionais no âmbito do conhecimento, habilidades e reforço de boas atitudes e é essencial particularmente em atividades que envolvem risco à vida, ao patrimônio e ao meio ambiente. Devido ao risco e custo de treinamentos práticos tradicionais, jogos sérios de treinamento que reproduzem sistemas, processos e objetos do mundo real em um ambiente virtual seguro vêm sendo usados como instrumento efetivo de aprendizagem e treinamento ou motivação ao aprendizado, além de apoio para avaliações durante e pós-ação. Por outro lado, o desenvolvimento de jogos sérios é um processo complexo, com alto custo de desenvolvimento (recursos humanos, materiais, financeiros, espaço e tempo), que requer profissionais qualificados, que detêm conhecimentos de aprendizagem, avaliação, simulação e de jogos em si. Diferentes metodologias emergiram para o desenvolvimento de jogos sérios que, de maneira geral, não contemplam as suas diferentes dimensões, necessitando serem combinadas e equilibradas com outras metodologias para atingirem os objetivos de treinamento e avaliação. Este trabalho apresenta uma metodologia iterativa e integradora (DevJSTA) para o desenvolvimento de Jogos Sérios para Treinamento e Avaliação do desempenho humano (JSTA), que integra equipes multidisciplinares, provendo desde orientações e artefatos até elementos de jogos e modelos de simulação (com modelos formais de eventos discretos, autômatos e lógica Fuzzy), para integrar e inserir conceitos de aprendizagem efetiva e experiencial aos jogos sérios, além de avaliação do desempenho humano durante e pós-ação. Na metodologia DevJSTA são descritos os papeis dos profissionais envolvidos, cada processo do ciclo de vida de desenvolvimento, os produtos gerados e as tecnologias e ferramentas que podem ser usadas para criar estes produtos, além de uma arquitetura de suporte e componentes genéricos. O principal diferencial desta metodologia é sua abordagem holística que integra princípios pedagógicos de aprendizagem e avaliação no desenvolvimento da simulação. A metodologia foi submetida à avaliação, por meio de entrevistas com especialistas das áreas de engenharia de software, desenvolvimento de jogos e domínio de aplicação. Os resultados positivos corroboram com a necessidade desta nova metodologia que é integradora. Para validar a metodologia, foi criado um JSTA para treinar bombeiros no controle de vazamento de gás de cozinha, e avaliar a percepção e o desempenho de cada aprendiz. O JSTA foi também validado quanto a sua fidelidade e efetividade. Além dos resultados positivos, a criação do JSTA, com a aplicação da metodologia DevJSTA, permitiu avaliar uma oportunidade de melhoria no protocolo atual que é utilizado no Corpo de Bombeiros do Estado de São Paulo.

Perturbation experiments for example using RNA interference (RNAi) offer an attractive way to elucidate gene function in a high throughput fashion. The placement of hit genes in their functional context and the inference of underlying networks from such data, however, are challenging tasks. One of the problems in network inference is the exponential number of possible network topologies for a given number of genes. Here, we introduce a novel mathematical approach to address this question. We formulate network inference as a linear optimization problem, which can be solved efficiently even for large-scale systems. We use simulated data to evaluate our approach, and show improved performance in particular on larger networks over state-of-the art methods. We achieve increased sensitivity and specificity, as well as a significant reduction in computing time. Furthermore, we show superior performance on noisy data. We then apply our approach to study the intracellular signaling of human primary nave CD4+ T-cells, as well as ErbB signaling in trastuzumab resistant breast cancer cells. In both cases, our approach recovers known interactions and points to additional relevant processes. In ErbB signaling, our results predict an important role of negative and positive feedback in controlling the cell cycle progression.

No description available.

Background: Low morale is classified as a latent condition for performance variability in safety-critical environments. Morale management may assist in the control of performance variability as part of a systems approach to safety. A context-specific model for measuring and managing morale with reference to followership in a safety-critical air traffic control (ATC) environment could not be found. Purpose/Aim: The purpose of this study was to develop a model that enables the measurement and management of air traffic controller (ATCO) team morale. Research Design: An exploratory sequential mixed method design was adopted. A census approach to sampling was used to conduct 21 focus group sessions as the qualitative phase, providing the definition and drivers of morale. The Measure of Morale and its Drivers (MoMaD) survey instrument was created from qualitative data, then administered to 256 ATCOs in the quantitative phase. Statistical methods included exploratory factor analysis, correlation and regression analysis to construct the final MoMaD model. Results: A context-specific definition of morale is provided and communication management, team cohesion, leadership interaction, staff incentive, staffing level, workplace health and safety and mutual trust were found to be the drivers of morale in a safety-critical ATC environment. A single-item measure of perceived morale reflected the state of context-specific ATCO team morale more accurately than an existing generalisable multi-item measure. Conclusion: This study contributes to the body of knowledge by integrating applicable aspects of morale, followership, performance variability and organisational culture and climate in safety-critical ATC environments into a new theoretical framework. The MoMaD instrument is presented as a context-specific model for measuring and managing ATCO team morale in an ATC environment. Recommendations: Future research opportunities include the possible influence of morale as a predictor of morale in safety-critical environments and the development of a context-specific multi-item measure of morale for integration into the MoMaD model. / Business Management / D. B. L.

No description available.

We often form intentions but have to postpone them until the appropriate situation for retrieval and execution has come, an ability also referred to as event-based prospective memory. After intention completion, our cognitive system has to deactivate no-more-relevant intention representations from memory to avoid interference with subsequent tasks. In everyday life, we frequently rely on these abilities also in stressful situations. Surprisingly, little is known about potential stress effects on these functions. Therefore, the present study aimed to examine the reliability of event-based prospective memory and of intention deactivation in conditions of acute psychosocial stress. To this aim, eighty-two participants underwent the Trier Social Stress Test, a standardized stress protocol, or a standardized control situation. Following this treatment, participants performed a computerized event-based prospective memory task with non-salient and focal prospective memory cues in order to assess prospective memory performance and deactivation of completed intentions. Although the stress group showed elevated levels of salivary cortisol as marker of a stress-related increase in hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis activity throughout the cognitive testing period compared to the no-stress group, prospective memory performance and deactivation of completed intentions did not differ between groups. Findings indicate that cognitive control processes subserving intention retrieval and deactivation after completion may be mostly preserved even under conditions of acute stress.

<p>There are no commercially available wearable shoe in-sole sensors that are capable of measuring and distinguishing between shear and compression forces. Companies have already developed shoe sensors that simply measure pressure and make general inferences on the collected data with elaborate software [2, 3, 4, 5]. Researchers have also attempted making sensors that are capable of measuring shear forces, but they are not well suited for biomedical applications [61, 62, 63, 64]. This work focuses on the development of a novel wearable sensor system that is capable of identifying and measuring shear and compression forces through the use of capacitive sensing. Custom hardware and software tools such as materials test systems and capacitive measurement systems were developed during this work. Numerous sensor prototypes were developed, characterized, and optimized during the scope of this project. Upon analysis of the data, the best capacitive measurement system developed in this work utilized the CAV444 IC chip, whereas the use of the Arduino-derived measurement system required data filtering using median and Butterworth zero phase low pass filters. The highest dielectric constant reported from optimization experiments yielded 9.7034 (+/- 0.0801 STD) through the use of 60.2% by weight calcium copper titanate and ReoFlex-60 silicone. The experiments suggest certain sensors developed in this work feasibly measure and distinguish between shear and compressional forces. Applications for such technology focus on improving quality of life in areas such as managing diabetic ulcer formation, preventing injuries, optimizing performance for athletes and military personnel, and augmenting the scope of motion capture in biomechanical studies.</p>